I'm already a very happy owner of an e34 540i, and I've recently spied out an old e32 735il. It's an '89 model, and it does have some serious kilometers on the clock. Without going into the car's service history, what sort of things should I look out for in this particular model?

Welcome to the Werkz. Always good to have another fellow Aussie on board.

I really don't know much about that series, I guess fall back to the default mechanical principals, of oil leaks/consumption, compression, transmission function, ride noises etc. Get it checked over by a BMW specialist workshop and see what they come up with.

Yeah, that seems to be sound advice. My research suggests that the M30 that powers these things is a workhorse engine that should give 400,000km provided it's reasonably maintained. I'll check out the car in person and then I'll get back to you...